Moving News

Well, looks like we really are gonna sell our house and move! It's exciting because it will be like starting over with a blank canvas. New house...OUR house. But there are a few things to consider.

I am realizing I don't really want to work. I thought I did, but now that I've been doing it for about a month, I'm discovering it was a desire to get out, not necessarily work. So I found a mommy group and now Nash is getting old enough for swim lessons and other activities. And I choose now to work. So I'm hoping to work long enough to get us the loan under my name, then go to part-time somewhere. Means we have to make sure we only buy the house we can afford with one (and a half) salaries.

Also, it's been tough finding good neighborhoods. I'm nervous to move somewhere that I end up not liking. This county just sucks, I tell ya.

More to come when I have access to my pics!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Finding Time

Now that I am back at work, I find myself neglecting a lot of things (this blog included).  Yet there are so many things to talk about, share, discuss, remember...it's a shame.  So, I am going to make a more concrete effort to keep up with the blogs.

I recently got an iPhone as well, so will now be able to post on the go!  Previously I had a blackberry, which wouldn't do much more than allow me a 160 character SMS post, which is just not enough most of the time.  So I'm really excited to start using this mobile app and keeping everything up to date!

Image via

I am ending my third week of work now and I think it's getting easier as time goes on.  I had been having some thoughts about just quitting to stay at home with Nash, but Joe and I talked and decided against it.

We're going to move, people!  We're going to list our house for sale and jump ship for a nicer neighborhood.  Our's is just going down hill and will continue to degrade as time goes on.  So I don't want Nash running around with any of these kids, or going to these schools, and there's not even a park nearby!  We found some great houses already that are totally within our budget (the economy has made some incredible homes so affordable), so we're taking the next steps.  We have a realtor coming to the house today to do a sale assessment and tell us how much she thinks our house can go for...and what things we NEED to do to get our house sale ready.  We also have a guy coming to fix our column out front (big eye sore...cracked right down the front a while back), we have evaluated our finances to know what we can afford, and we're looking to purchase some very  large buckets of white paint (our house is some crazy colors).  So, it's all very exciting.  As much as I love our house...I hate it too.  I just want to start over...with a house that's OURS.  And decorate it the way WE want.  It's a lot of hodge podge right now and it's more work to undo what's been done to this house than it is to start over somewhere else.

So, long story short.  I have to keep my job.  We're going to put the house in my name (since I have great credit), so I have to have a stable income.  I was thinking too, if I am going to be a stay at home mom, I should do it when we decide to have another baby.  That way I can take care of both of them and it will be worth it...right now, we're totally making it work with the part time nanny and Joe covering all the other times.  Although I think he is a bit tired, he's been such a trooper.  Our days are crazy though.  Here's a typical schedule:

6:20 am - I'm up to go running or to the gym
7:00 am - we wake up the little man and I get ready for work
8:15 am - I'm out the door for work
8:15 am to 6:00 pm - Joe takes care of the baby (except when he works and the nanny comes)
6:00 pm - I get home from work and immediately smooch my muffin
6:00 to 6:30 pm - We walk the yard, play, hang out, talk about the day, smooch, etc...
6:30 to 7:00 pm - Baby bath time, bottle, reading Dr. Suess, snuggles, then bedtime
7:00 pm - I cook dinner
8:00 to 10:30 pm - Dishes/clean kitchen/, wash bottles, prep for work, take care of any household business, laundry, etc...
10:30 pm - Bedtime for me at least (although tired Joe has been falling asleep with me this week)

And then we start all over again.  Just typing it all out makes me tired.

Bottom line, we're busy.  And I don't get much time with my muffin...especially when I have drill on the weekend and I go two weeks without a day off (like this last weekend).  So home time is precious...but we both know we're suffering right now for a better future.  NEAR future!!

Making Lists

As you’ve all probably learned already, I am a little bit of a control freak. I like things to be neat and orderly and in their correct spot. Well, since having a baby, I have had to abandon many of my Type-A behaviors, as I just don’t have time to color-code my closet by sleeve length. It’s been quite an adjustment since disorder tends to make me stressed out and edgy.
One of the things I still HAVE to do is make lists. I am such a list girl, it’s crazy. I carry around a little notebook filled with notes, shopping lists, wish lists, home improvement DIY “some day” lists, etc… etc… I even catalog all the army work that I’ve done, how much I got paid, and when, as well as when our nanny comes to watch Nash (this is for some childcare tax credit thing I just learned about).

My Newest Favorite To Do List Notebook.  Image via

A while back, Joe was having problems keeping all his work stuff straight since we were always busy with baby stuff, doctor’s appointments, last-minute to-do’s…so I suggested to him that he make lists. He said he does, but usually on little scraps of paper. I said, “No, no, you need to get a notebook.” All in one place. Well that seemed to work! He said he felt so much more organized. Now he keeps his to do lists on the Memo function of his phone, so it’s always right there for him. I can’t seem to give up the paper notebook – even though I too use the memo function on my phone.

Current Memo Count: 9

Letters to Nash

My Dearest Nash,

I regret that this is the first letter I am writing to you, but I will do my best to make up for lost time.  You are growing so much every day, it’s hard to know where to begin.  Every day you make us laugh, you impress us with your talents, and you challenge us as parents.  You are such a sweet baby, with an unparalleled feistiness about you!   You really know how to express yourself!

You are getting so big; Mama and Daddy can barely carry you!  I weighed you tonight and you are over 17 pounds!  Someone saw you in the grocery store today and thought you were a one-year old - I couldn’t believe it.  You’re tall and robust, and definitely an athlete!  Your kicks are still going strong – from the time you were in my belly kicking me in the ribs until now when you repeatedly kick me anywhere you little legs can reach.  You’re just now starting to get some chub on you, which is so cute.  Your little legs are finally getting some little rolls, and I noticed some little dimples in your elbows the other day. Your giggles are infectious and you LOVE playing peek-a-boo!

You are finally sleeping well!  We struggled so much the last few months, but we’ve managed to find a way to help you sleep.  We spent the first few months sleeping close, snuggling with Mama, and then we tried to put you in your room to sleep on your own.  At first, you did great!  But then around 3 months, you seemed to really want Mama there all the time.  After a month of hanging in your room with you (all night sometimes), we finally had to let you just hang out by yourself for a while.  At first you were not happy!  But now you seem to prefer sleeping in your crib and even demand it when you’re super tired!  You love your nighttime baths, and Mama loves the way you smell when you’re all clean and snuggly!

Daddy and I are working hard to make sure you experience as much as possible, while still providing you some routine for comfort.  We go to Gymboree classes twice a week to sing songs and play with other babies.  We go to the beach, take you swimming in the pool, and you’ve even been to two baseball games already!  We can’t wait for August to come so we can take you on your first flight (or maybe train ride) up north to see the rest of Mama and Daddy’s families.  They are so excited to meet you!

To date you have mastered rolling over in both directions (sometimes even when we don’t want you to!), can almost stand on your own (it’s incredible), and have a very hearty vocabulary.  You seem to love milk and food alike, and Mama can’t wait to continue making yummy homemade food for you to try.

It’s hard to believe you are about to be 5 months old…it seems like just yesterday I was smooching your sweet little cheeks for the first time in the hospital and asking in disbelief, “Are you my baby?”  I still ask you this every day, as if I can’t believe you are really mine.  Your daddy is so in love with you, and is so protective.  He hates when he has to work and doesn’t get to see you, so we try to make sure he gets plenty of love when he is home.   We can’t even imagine what the next month is going to bring, as you seem to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time.  Until next month, we love you more than life itself.

Love, Mama and Daddy

Money Matters

I read an interesting article this week about the value of stay-at-home moms. It claimed that if you were to add up all the billable hours of work you do each week (things that you would likely need to pay someone else to do if you were not doing it), then you would most definitely make as much, if not more, money than some working mothers.

I decided to give it a try and entered in my zip code (it’s prorated for your local area), then tried to honestly asses how many hours each week I spend doing the tasks specified (ranging from housekeeper to event planner to psychologist. It provided an hourly rate for each, then averaged the hourlies together to get your overall hourly rate. According to my (modest) assessment of my contributions, I should be making almost $43k a year.

Thought would then say that I should only agree to take a job that was willing to pay me at least that much, yes? Too bad the real world is never that clear cut.

Personal Finance Resource!  Image via

In light of this article, I have been working diligently on our family finances. We agreed to a joint account when we got married, but have yet to fully establish said account. Since Joe has been paying his bills on auto draft for the last 10 years, he had some accounts he couldn’t even tell me how to log in or how much he still owed (case in point: our mortgage). I had to take all of our statements and create log ins so I could change the payment account to our joint one.

THEN I had to inform Joe of our total expenditures. I had created this nifty little excel spreadsheet that detailed all of our bills (I tried to pull the highest of a three-month average) and a small contribution to savings each month. GASP! He said…that seems like a lot. I said, “Yes, well, I do have a ridiculous car payment and we now spend (at least) $500 a month on groceries, so…” We still have not worked out exactly how much he needs to put into our account every month because it’s kind of a touchy subject.

You see, I used to be in a not-so-good relationship when I was younger. He was quite a bit older than me and we lived together. He had money (because he was able to work). I didn’t (because I was still in school), so he pretty much dictated where we went, what we ate, etc… I felt like a prisoner and vowed to never be financially dependent on someone else.

So when I was out of work (while I was pregnant and such), I was not making any money. I relied on Joe to pay the bills and take care of the family. It was not a good feeling for me…I don’t even like to have conversations about money, much less ones where I have to say, “You have to pay my bills too because I’m a loser without a job.” So it was tough to have the conversation. And it still is. I don’t think we are putting enough into our account, but thankfully it hasn’t mattered yet because our mortgage has not been added (still trying to track that one down).

Image via

Added to the mountain of money matters, is that I am quite the Type-A, little-miss-organized, and Joe – eh, not so much. So I am very particularly about paying bills on time, keeping these up to date, etc… I check my credit report every year, line by line and I don’t think he’s seen his in the last 10 years. I file my taxes as soon as I get those pesky little W-2s (why so slow?!?!?!) and he hasn’t filed taxes in years (this is largely due to his business and partnership, so it’s legit, people). All these little things can make a Type-A-er like me a little bit uneasy…

Point of this whole blabbering blog post: Money matters are tough. But it’s the number one reason married people argue, so it’s important to get over those communication hurdles. We’re still a work in progress, but I’ll keep you posted.

Our Little Farmer's Market

We have taken to growing a ton of stuff here at the DiPinto house.  I love the idea of growing our own fruits and vegetables since it means we save money at the grocery store, we know our stuff doesn't have a bunch of pesticides or anything on it, and it's fun too!  

Beefsteak Baby!

It all started with a small crop of basil I grew last year (that gave me so much basil I couldn't even use it all).  This year, we went full bore and decided to grow a bunch of different things.  Here's a rundown of what's growing out there right now:

• Basil
• Tomatoes
• Papaya
• Green Beans
• Cantaloupe
• Carrots
• Spinach (not doing so great)
• Dwarf Bananas
• Chiquita Bananas
• Muscadine Grapes (just bought!)
• Oranges (have never given us fruit, erg...)
• Mangoes
• Avocados (hasn't sprouted yet...heard it can take 3 months)

Mango!!  It's growing like a champ!

We're also growing a bunch of new plants:

• Peony Nancy Nora
• Dahlias (regrowth from last year)
• Bamboo (still going strong!)
• Climbing Roses
• Hydrangea (finally has bloom buds!)

I can't wait for everything to grow and fruit, and I can make stuff with our bounty!  Our yard has become a mecca of yumminess, and I REALLY can't wait for the papayas, mangoes, bananas, and grapes (all of which are new projects this year).  Yum!!

My First Mother's Day

Been trying to write this post for a while now, but we seem to be having internet issues lately.  The hubby has said he will contact Bright House to request a new modem, in hopes that it will fix the problem.

I never knew the magnitude of today until today.  I never really thought about what it would be like to finally be a mother on Mother's Day...to have a child who loves me and who I love more than anything.

I got up at 7 this morning and went in to wake up the muffin.  He was adorable as ever, with his little butt in the air and a smile on his face.  We spent the morning playing and just hanging out together.  I even got the most amazing mother's day card from him and one from Joe.  Not only that, but I got the most beautiful diamond necklace...it has a tiny diamond heart inside a larger heart to symbolize Nash's heart in mine forever. 

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Around lunchtime, I headed off to get an express facial and a body polish from the spa using the remainder of the gift certificate I got from Mindy and Becka when I was pregnant (meant for prenatal massages, but I only got around to getting one.  The I spent the rest of the day at home with the family, enjoying the beautiful weather, sweet baby smiles, and ending the day rocking my sweet baby boy to sleep (he was unusually cranky tonight and could not fall asleep in his usual way).

Overall, I spent the day thinking about my role in motherhood and my experiences thus far.  I feel such an enormous love for and sense of responsibility to this little person, it's crazy.  He's in every thought, and now that I'm back at work, I can't wait for the end of the day when I can run home and hang out with him before he heads to bed.  Our nightly bath time ritual has become super important, and I miss him almost immediately after I set him in his crib.  As a result, I find myself wanting to hold him more, comfort him whenever he cries (even if it's one of those fake, attention cries).  I think about how I could be spending every day with him and I hate that I've chosen to go back to work.  I could be taking him to story time and playgrounds and the beach...and instead I'm leaving him at home with other people.  FML.

The other thing that's so remarkable is how I feel about children in general.  I used to hear horror stories about people who abused, neglected, or abandoned their children, but they never really hit home.  The other day I was at work reading local news headlines and read a story about a Florida couple who is ready to stand trial for repeatedly abusing their child.  Apparently, they took the kid to the hospital for something and the doctors found multiple broken bones in different stages of healing, which means these people were repeatedly abusing their kid so horribly that bones were broken.  I nearly cried right there in the front office.  I could not imagine what disgusting people they were to hurt their OWN baby over and over again.  I prayed they would spend the rest of their lives in jail.  I wondered what would happen to that sweet child.  I suddenly felt the urge to adopt lots of babies who might never have known the comforts of a safe and loving family.  It breaks my heart to know that's not possible.  I can't save everyone...but I can't think about babies (or kids) not having the world.  Life is full of disappointment and struggle when you're an adult, why should these babies not have a blissful childhood???  So sad.

So, I've made a promise to myself to never take my role as a mother for granted...to love every second of it.  And to make sure my baby has all the love and support he can handle...for all those babies out there who don't.

Something's Cookin'

I am working on a new project these days...putting in long hours researching, learning...totally engrossed in it.  I am hoping it takes me places...it's something I'm so genuinely excited about.

Image via

Anyone have awesome cake recipes?

One Down, How Many More to Go?

It's Friday, finally.  It's the end of my first week back at work.  After over a year of job searching, I finally got an offer.  It wasn't a great offer, and it's not doing what I normally do, but it's something.  So on Monday, I headed off to the office.

I knew it was going to be hard to leave Nash...I have spent almost every single day with him since he was born (only days apart were those awful days I had to spend in DC), so I knew I was going to miss him.  Boy, do I.  After one week, I'm hating it.  I am afraid that I'm going to miss something.  Tonight during his bath, he grabbed for his squirt toy with a dexterity I haven't seen before.  Little did I know, he has been grabbing his binkie and putting it back in his mouth on his own.  And I missed it.  What else am I going to miss???  I hate knowing that someone else is here taking care of him...I don't mind Joe, but we have a nanny that comes a few days a week when Joe has to work.  It's not that I don't like her or trust her, it's just not me.  It's a woman that's not me.  It sucks.

On the other side of that is the reality that I'm so happy to have that part of my life back.  I'm getting up, eating right, working out, doing my hair, having adult conversations, contributing, making money...  All things I've been so desperate for in the past 5 months.  I feel a bit like myself again.  I go off to work and I'm Theresa again.  It's weird to feel as though I've been severed from myself...

I have thought about what I would do if I did not want to work...if I gave this a go and it didn't work out (either because I missed him too much or because the job just wasn't what I'd hoped it would be).  I know I need and want to work, so I'm doing everything I can to make it work.   I miss the mommies...I miss gymboree and walks and being able to hang out with him all day, but I'm a lot less tired.  He's a lot to take for a whole day.  

WHW

I am way behind in this post too, but I've been busy, so cut me some slack.  Here we go:

Star Onesie - Vintage purchased off Etsy

Baby Legs - made by me

And that's all I got.  So sue me.  

Making Baby Food

I know I said I would post on this a million years ago, but this is the first really free moment I've had all week. Being back at work really slims down my free time, especially because I spend a good portion of the night before preparing for the next day so I don't forget anything or run late.

Anyway, here it is.

I decided to whip up some baby food for Nash's 2nd go at solid food. If you recall, we introduced him to some solid food at about 4 months, but quit soon after because he wasn't sleeping well and thought it might have been a digestive thing (it wasn't). Either way, we decided to wait to try again. I wanted to wait until his 5-month mark, but he seemed so interested in food, it was almost sad to deprive him. So I spent a few hours making him some yums (would have taken less time, but I dilly-dallied). I wanted to start him off with peas, since everyone said he should have green vegetables first.

I made all of the recipes using my favorite baby food book, The Best Homemade Baby Food on the Planet.

I got some frozen peas from Target.

I put them, along with a small amount of water, into the microwave for a few minutes.

While the peas cooked and cooled, I started on the apples.  I used fuji apples,

since they are supposed to be pretty sweet.

 (Note:  this is for the microwave version...I usually do the stovetop 

version and will explain why later).

I cut the apples into quarters and then laid them cut side down 

to be microwaved (not shown).

Once the peas were cooled, I put them in the food processor 

along with some of the cooking water and pureed until smooth.

For the apples, I waited for them to cool, then peeled them and pureed along 

with some formula.  This is where I prefer the stovetop method.  It was 

difficult and very sticky to peel the apples once they were cooked and soft.  

The other method involves cutting and peeling first, then cooking with a 

small amount of water on the stove (checking levels often) until soft.  

Much less messy.

And this is the final product!  I also made sweet potatoes (just clean, 

prick with a fork, microwave, and puree with formula - easy!) and 

bananas (saute sliced bananas with a lil unsalted butter, then puree), 

but didn't snap photos of those.

By the way, he loved the peas!

Music has the incredible ability to instantly transport you back to a time, a place, a feeling. Moved.

Work Quote

Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle, or it will starve. It doesn't matter whether you're a lion or a gazelle - when the sun comes up you'd better be running.